Does the BMW system take over steering? If not, I'd credit Chitwoodian skills with the save... the steering inputs were, whether by skill or luck, appropriate at the appropriate times. Of course there is the possibility that even with the appropriate steering inputs he would have rolled without the added benefit of some electronic throttle/brake intervention.

I had a drive of a M5? BMW at Eastern Creek a few years back and the damn thing kept getting confused when there was too much going on at once. :
We (me and the car) kept having disagreements over which way we should go. I wanted to turn left and it was still trying to turn right and brake. The compromise was to go straight ahead.
Apart from one set of corners it was great on the rest of the track.

How did they have the steering set up? On the Territory the VDC uses the steering wheel as a 'that's the way I want to go' device, instead of a 'that's the way I want the steered wheels to point' controller, which is what a normal steering system does of course. So when you've got lots of slip you just keep the top of the steering wheel pointed at the apex and then the exit. and then you trust the calibrators....

I had a rough time with a not so fancy Mercedes A Class trying to tell me where to go when driving down the hill at a dirt road. It could have helped my wife, who knows, but got me really messed up fighting the car. And I was damn slow and carefull...

Originally posted by Greg Locock How did they have the steering set up? On the Territory the VDC uses the steering wheel as a 'that's the way I want to go' device, instead of a 'that's the way I want the steered wheels to point' controller, which is what a normal steering system does of course. So when you've got lots of slip you just keep the top of the steering wheel pointed at the apex and then the exit. and then you trust the calibrators....

I don't know how it was set up but it seemed the although the front wheels were pointed the way I wanted to go (left) the brakes were pulling the car to the right.

Originally posted by Greg Locock Them bastard laws of physics.Without going through the logic (frankly because it is hidden deep inside proprietary code), first priority is keep the pointy end at the pointy end. If that means you slip sideways, so be it.

Unless the cliff detectors, the phone pole detectors, or guardrail detectors overide, in which case the retro-rockets are deployed.

The scarey thing is that these systems are going to be mandantory. Is every manufacturer, on every model, going to get it right... to do more good than harm? On any surface in any weather condition? With worn shocks or aftermarket tires or brake pads? The trial lawyers are having orgasms. Every un-prevented accident is going to result in the manufacturer (deep pockets) being dragged into court... either to defend against the charge they failed to prevent it, or that the electronics made the situation worse or even caused it. Reminds me of Lilly. Make a drug to help depressed and homicidal/suicidal people... when some of those people commit homicide or sucide, sue the pants off the manufacturer for causing homicide/suicide). Idiots.

Originally posted by Greg Locock Yes, same with driverless trains. We'll accept a certain accident rate due to human error, but if an automatic train crashes then it is the end of the world for that company.

You can't get $10.000.000 from a train operator that did something silly. You can try to have the company liable, but that's not sure you will get something. On the other hand, it's crystal clear who is going to pay the bill if an automated train fails.